How Hong Kong-born chef’s Chinese kitchen knives are cutting through stigma
Chef says ‘made in China’ does not mean low quality and that his modern, affordable chef’s knives challenge ones from Japan and Germany
Sean Warmington-Wan is a man who wears many hats: chef, food anthropologist, entrepreneur. But these days, he is best known as the founder of Fragrant Knives, a small but fast-growing brand built around one simple idea: to spread his love of Chinese knives.
Born in Hong Kong but raised in the UK, Warmington-Wan grew up straddling two cultures. During university, he lost his mother, who had been the cook in the family, and felt cut off from his heritage, which reignited his interest in food.
“Knives are the most important tool that you have in kitchens,” he says. “It frustrates me when I see them not being used and treated more like beautiful objects. That’s not the mindset I have when it comes to cooking, and I’m a bit more utilitarian.”
Out to change attitudes towards blades, Fragrant Knives produces one of its own – one that is cleaver-shaped but is not a Western butcher’s cleaver. It is closer to a Chinese version of a nakiri (Japanese vegetable knife), designed for everyday tasks rather than hacking through bone.